| Inspector Maigret has to go to Neuilly to investigate the strange death of Olga Boulanger, a servant girl, at the desperate request of her parents. The girl was working at the home of Dr. Armand Barion, and after her death it was found that she had been two month pregnant. It seemed that the father of the child was the chauffeur Martin Vignolet. The autopsy had revealed that her intestine had been perforated as a result of ingesting rye spears. This was, according to Dr. Barion, a method of murder known in Malaya and New Hebrides.
The doctor had discovered that a tramp who came regularly to the house on Mondays, and thus was called Mr. Monday, brought the children some cakes and rye spears had been found in the cakes. Olga had eaten them in place of the children. This turnover of the story is quite confusing for Maigret, especially because he also discovers that an English woman, Laurence Wilfur had ordered cakes by mistake and she sent back what she had received. Now Maigret has two suspects (the woman and the tramp) but he can't figure out which one of them would have wanted to kill the children and, especially why? | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - jealousy How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Europe Yes European country: - France Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual forms of death - poisoning Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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